New Ellesmere history walking trail heads in right direction

THE completion of a new historical interest walking trail could soon come to fruition in Ellesmere following a two-year wait to see the project materialise.

Two new toposcopes and six historical markers will lead tourists around the sights of the mereside town after they were developed by an Oswestry blacksmith in a scheme led by Shropshire Council.

Internationally renowned blacksmiths, Stokes of England, based at Park Green, have produced the historical place markers which are set to be installed before Easter.

“I am still waiting to hear from Shropshire Council as to the exact date but this will be the culmination of a project that has been two years in the making,” said company owner, Chris Stokes.

“I hope they will brighten up the landscape in Ellesmere and look good when everything finally comes together.

“The idea behind them is to show how nature reclaims man’s inventions and they will stand at two metres tall so they will be difficult to miss,” he added.

The markers are made with Ellesmere’s industrial past in mind, with steel rings in the form of cogs attached to a metal rope such as that seen around a canal boat.

Two toposcopes, markers erected to indicate the direction and distance to notable landscape features, will be positioned at the town’s wharf and the Boathouse Visitor Centre and will include a map of the town and the direction of walking trails.

Users will be able to call the telephone number inscribed on all of the markers to listen to various points of interest relating to their position and Ellesmere Town councillor, Pat McLaughlin said: “I think it is a wonderful scheme.

“A lot of people using the canal don’t realise there is a town in Ellesmere and people visiting the Mere don’t often come into the town either.

“This project links the whole area together and both Chris Stokes, and Shropshire Council conservation officer, Karen Rolfe, have worked very hard to make it happen,” she added.